Apple announced the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. These three new iPhones for 2018 officially replace the iPhone X, which Apple pulled from its store after the announcement. So if you're looking for a new "IPhone X" this year, one of these three will have to be it. While the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have virtually the same guts, just in two different sizes, the iPhone XR is a cheaper, more colorful phone with a few compromises. The XR introduces a profound shift in Apple's strategy by folding its "bargain" phone into the premium iPhone mix.
The iPhone XR starts at $749 for the lowest storage capacity, the iPhone XS starts at $999 -- like last year's iPhone X -- and the XS Max's 64GB model costs $1,099. The prices rise from there with each jump in internal storage. Instead of Apple's most advanced phone breaking the $1,000 ceiling, two of these new iPhones now start at a grand or more. This is Apple's way of testing people's willingness to splurge on a high-end phone.
Apple has dabbled in cheaper iPhones before, with the iPhone SE and iPhone 5C, but their designs stood apart from the mainstream iPhones, and they didn't last. Here, the cheaper iPhone XR shares the design and many of the same specs as the top-tier iPhones. It comes in bright colors and has some slimmed-down features, like a smaller battery than the new iPhone XSes. The pricing is the most attractive for iPhone loyalists. Although there's nothing "budget" about the iPhone XR's $749 starting price, people looking for a new iPhone this year could easily gravitate to the relatively cheaper XR.
This reveal of Apple's 2018-2019 lineup is a big moment for the tech giant, which shook up its iPhone range in 2017 when it introduced the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, effectively killing any chance of a future iPhone 9 and turning its whole iPhone naming scheme on its head.
At a time when phones are becoming more and more expensive, Apple's decision to embrace the new "X" family is important because it cements a new strategy for Apple, one that will continue to set the pace for phone makers as we move toward 2019.
These new iPhones for 2018 will need to impress buyers if Apple has any desire to nudge Chinese brand Huawei -- which outsold iPhones last quarter -- and regain its seat as the world's second-largest phone maker, after No. 1 Samsung.
Keep reading for all the new iPhone specs. In the meantime, preorders for the iPhone XS and XS Max begin this Friday, Sept. 14, with the phones going on sale next Friday, Sept. 21. The iPhone XR preorders begin Oct. 19 and it goes on sale Oct. 26.
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BY JESSICA DOLCOURT | www.cnet.com